Woman shot by officer had knife, police say

A woman shot by a police officer in west Wichita on Friday night had been fighting with another woman and was going after her with a knife when the officer shot her, police Lt. Ken Landwehr said Saturday.

A woman shot by a police officer in west Wichita on Friday night had been fighting with another woman and was going after her with a knife when the officer shot her, police Lt. Ken Landwehr said Saturday.

The woman who was shot is in critical condition, Landwehr said. She is 53 years old.

The shooting was the culmination of a dispute that had been going on between the two women since Thanksgiving, Landwehr said. Police got involved in the midst of responding to the report of a drive-by shooting about 8 p.m. in the 7000 block of West Freeman, southeast of Central and Ridge Road.

The drive-by shooting turned out to be a person firing three shots into the air, hitting nothing and no one, Landwehr said. The police had gone around the corner to the 500 block of Summitlawn to investigate a vehicle thought to be involved in that incident when the two women got into the fight.

Four officers were trying to restrain the women when the 53-year-old pulled out a lockblade knife and cut the other woman’s blouse and undergarments, Landwehr said. One of the officers was between the two women when the 53-year-old started to go after the younger woman again, and that’s when the officer shot the 53-year-old once, Landwehr said. The younger woman was only scratched.

No one was in custody, Landwehr said, but police are seeking a 30- to 40-year-old tall balding man for involvement in the original shots fired into the air. He said the two incidents were related.

The officer involved in the shooting was put on administrative leave, and police will be reporting to the district attorney’s office about possible charges against the 53-year-old woman, Landwehr said.